Emmanuel Agbara v. Evelyn Okoji

Upper Marlboro, Maryland family law lawyers represented Plaintiff and Defendant in a child support dispute.

Okoji and Agbara are both originally from Nigeria, where they met in 2012. The parties were lawfully married in January 2013 in Nigeria but, after moving to Maryland, also married in Prince George's County on November 25, 2013. The relationship became strained.[3] One child, M., was born to the parties on January 6, 2015. According to Okoji, Agbara was angry because he did not want children. Following an argument that resulted in police intervention, Okoji and Agbara separated on October 16, 2016. Thereafter, M. resided with Okoji in the marital home.



On June 13, 2017, Agbara filed a complaint for shared physical and sole legal custody of M., asserting that Okoji had denied him access to M. since the separation. Okoji filed a counter-complaint for limited divorce, sole legal and physical custody, and child support on July 14, 2017. Thereafter, Agbara filed a supplemental complaint for absolute divorce on the ground of adultery on August 4, 2017.



The circuit court held a trial in the divorce action on May 7 and 8, 2018. Agbara testified that between the date of the parties' separation and the trial, Okoji permitted him very limited visitation with M. Okoji asserted that it was because she was afraid of him, and unsure how to contact him because he had told her not to call him. Agbara also produced three recent paystubs and his 2017 W-2 form documenting gross income of $105,417.80. His paystubs showed first quarter gross income of $41,328.97. The paystubs reflected that Agbara's first quarter income included overtime pay in addition to regular earnings. Okoji produced a financial statement indicating gross monthly wages of $2,101.60, and she also stated that she works 40 hours per week at $14 per hour.[4]



The circuit court ultimately filed a written order granting absolute divorce on June 15, 2018 based on the one-year separation, rather than on grounds of adultery. Based on the child support guidelines, the court calculated that Agbara would have to pay $2,331 per month in child support if Okoji had sole custody of M., and $2,164 per month if the parents had joint custody. Since the mortgage payment on the marital home was $2,200 per month, the court declared, "that's his child support."[5] The court then found that permanent alimony was unnecessary, and ordered limited alimony payments of $1,000 per month for the first year and $500 per month for the next year. Finally, the court declined to award Agbara primary physical custody of M. Instead, the court ordered an increase in Agbara's access to M., adding that Okoji could face contempt of court if she continued to withhold access. Additionally, the court granted Okoji and Agbara joint legal custody of M., with Okoji having final decision-making authority on educational issues and Agbara having final decision-making authority on medical issues.



Agbara v. Okoji, 264-2024 (Md. App. Nov 18, 2024)

Affirmed